AlQaeda

alQaeda is a transnational Islamist militant network formed in the late 1980s by Osama bin Laden and other veterans of the Afghan jihad. Building on overseas networks and experience from the fight against the Soviet Union, it developed an international structure intended to coordinate operations and inspire supporters worldwide. Its stated aims include establishing a caliphate and removing Western influence from Muslim lands, using violence to pursue its goals and rejecting existing state borders.

In the 1990s, alQaeda carried out and inspired major attacks that drew global attention, including the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa and the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. It played a central role in planning the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, which killed nearly 3,000 people. Following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, the group’s core leadership was disrupted, but it survived and expanded through regional franchises such as al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), and other affiliate networks in Africa and the Middle East, all pledging allegiance to the central core.

Leadership changes included Osama bin Laden’s death in 2011 and Ayman al-Zawahiri’s leadership until his death in 2022. Today alQaeda operates in a decentralized manner, with varying degrees of coordination between the core and its affiliates. It is designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and many other countries.

The group remains active as a transnational extremist network, producing propaganda and facilitating recruitment and fundraising, while competing with other extremist movements for influence and supporters.